XNA!

So I've decided I'm going to switch from programming my game in Allegro 4.2 to programming it in XNA 4.0.

Pros -

- XNA should have better vsync - Allegro 4.2's vsync would still display tears in the screen. It is a small detail that slowly drove me mad. I do not want my game to be the least bit jittery.

- XNA works on both Windows computers and Xbox 360 with no changes in code necessary. I will be able to release my game easily onto an actual console when it is complete!!

- Learning XNA and porting my game over will allow me to add C# and XNA experience to my resume :P

- XNA might allow me to implement some graphical effects easily that would not have been as easily implemented into Allegro -- I'm thinking of eventually changing the terrain that the player traverses on to be displayed in 3d (hopefully with cel shading), instead of 2d, so as to add a more interesting visual style to my game.

Cons -

- Being a developer on XBLA costs $100/year. Lame.

- Allegro (v. 5 anyhow) is easily ported to Windows, Macintosh, Linux, iPhone, etc. etc. because many ports exist. XNA only works on Windows and Xbox as far as I know. However I am not interested in porting my game to iPhone, due to the many complicated actions and buttons that will be in the game -- this is not suited to the iPhone at all.

- Learning a new language and porting will pause development for a bit. But hopefully not too much -- surely porting from C++ to C# won't be too bad? And I already have a bit of experience in Java, and I've heard C# is terribly similar to Java.

I will keep you updated on progress as usual on this site. Stay tuned!